Pruitt quits EPA amid ethics probes
Embattled administrator complains of ‘unrelenting attacks’ in resignation
— Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and one of the oil industry’s most faithful friends, ended months of speculation about his future in the Trump administration, remerous signing Thursday following a series of ethical scandals that increasingly dominated national headlines.
From using EPA staff to pick up high-end skin lotion to renting a Capitol Hill apartment from the wife of a prominent lobbyist, Pruitt has faced nuWASHINGTON government probes into his actions since taking over the agency last year. President Donald Trump announced the resignation over Twitter but offered no explanation, tweeting, “Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this.”
A dedicated defender of fossil fuels, Pruitt pushed for less burdensome environmental policies and a shift away from Obamaera climate change efforts, making him a hero among oil and gas companies in Houston, in Texas and across the nation. That vision also meshed well with Trump, who pulled the United States from the Paris climate accord and defended the former Oklahoma attorney general over social media for months despite increasing calls for his ouster — from both Republicans and Democrats.
“The reason he survived as long as he has is he was the closest to Trump’s thinking on the environment,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the
University of Houston. “This White House is less likely to be influenced by the politics of the moment in Washington and stick by an individual because of loyalty or a synergy of ideology.”
Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and longtime Republican staffer on Capitol Hill, is scheduled to take over the agency as acting administrator beginning Monday. Lobbyists around Washington reassured clients that the agency’s policies were unlikely to change much with Pruitt’s departure. The resignation, they added, could tamp down an increasingly hostile activist campaign against the administration.
“In the substance, I don’t think it changes anything. But I think there will be a big change in style,” said Jeff Holmstead, a former high-ranking EPA official during George W. Bush’s administration and now an attorney representing fossil fuel companies. “(Wheeler) is quieter, more low key. Part of Pruitt’s challenge is he came here not fully understanding how D.C. works.”
In addition to alleged ethical lapses, Pruitt spurred outrage among environmentalists, outdoor enthusiasts and Democrats for policies they said favored industry over protecting the environment and public . In his 17 months leading the agency, Pruitt carried out a virtual wish list for the fossil fuel energy. He moved to repeal rules limiting methane emissions from drilling operations as well as the Obama administration’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by closing many of the nation’s coal-fired power plants.
The former Oklahoma attorney general came under repeated scrutiny, as details of his lavish travel and security spending emerged alongside reports he used agency staff to run personal errands and rented a Capitol Hill apartment for $50 a night from the wife of J. Steven Hart, a prominent lobbyist whose firm has represented energy companies in efforts to steer EPA regulation.
More recently, former aides came forward to recount how Pruitt used them to help find a job for his wife, Marilyn, including an attempt to win her a franchise with the fast-food outlet Chick-fil-A.
Pruitt denied many of those accounts, depicting himself — much like Trump — as a controversial change-maker whose numerous enemies were trying to frame him.
“The unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us,” Pruitt said in his resignation letter Thursday.
But frequent news accounts, which suggested a cashstrapped official using his public office to live a more lavish lifestyle than this $180,000 annual salary allowed, had begun to worry even some of Pruitt’s most ardent supporters.
Among House and Senate Republicans, concerns grew that Pruitt was distracting voters from the booming economy and strong job growth heading into the midterm elections in November.
“It has become increasingly challenging for the EPA to carry out its mission with the administrator under investigation,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “President Trump made the right decision to accept his resignation.”
After months of campaigning for Pruitt’s firing, environmental advocacy groups declared victory on Thursday.
Eric Schaeffer, a former director of civil enforcement at EPA and now executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, called Pruitt “an antiregulatory jihadist who worked essentially as an agent for his home state’s oil and gas industry to dismantle EPA from within.”
“Good riddance,” Schaeffer said. “We’d be happy to pay for his first class flight back to Oklahoma.”